Earlier this month, Michael Peluso, president of Shawmut Communications Group was honored at the Printing Industry of America’s (PIA) Continuous Improvement Conference. He was selected by PIA to receive the Managing for Improvement Award, a national honor given annually to one manager in the printing industry. The Managing for Improvement Award, now in its third year, recognizes managers who have demonstrated their ability to create real and lasting improvement for their company.
“This year we again had a number of worthy individuals nominated,” said Michael Makin, president of PIA. “Michael’s nomination stood out and showed how he has lead a transformation in the service offering, culture, and performance of Shawmut through the adherence to a continuous improvement mentality.”
The recipient of the award must have a clear record of leading people, teams, and/or projects to higher levels of performance and that certainly showed in the words of Michael’s nominator below:
After many years on Shawmut’s sales and management team, Michael was appointed president at the start of 2014 during a period of severe business challenges. Rather than laying off associates, one of his first decisions was to have virtually every member of the operations and customer service staff attend a dedicated program on Lean management.
Every business process was laid bare for analysis and investigation. A targeted look at the customer experience and industry benchmarking on efficient practices resulted in a standing Lean team, 5s and safety focus, a team-based problem-solving methodology, and a way to evaluate and triage customer issues. In two years this dedication to managing the company with Lean thinking has contributed to double-digit sales growth and record profits. The resulting savings and improved cash flow let Shawmut re-invest in technology and expand service offerings to meet the needs of their customers.
Engaging employees, changing the culture, focusing on customer value, embedding lean thinking deep into the company, and achieving results—these are the type of actions that our award was designed to honor.
“It was an honor just to be nominated,” said Michael Peluso, president of Shawmut Communications Group. “We wouldn’t be where we are without the commitment from our team who has embraced the lean management practices.”
During his acceptance speech, Michael recounted what it was like to implement this across Shawmut’s operations.
The journey for us started nearly two years ago when we I got a call from Tad Parker, who runs the New England chapter for PIA. They were offering a 10-week course on lean management, and we knew we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Our ownership was deeply committed to this change in process, and that was the key. You have to embrace change from the top to make progress. As we went through the program, we started to notice changes in middle managers as well as employees on the floor. They were empowered to make changes within departments that they could control and that started the beginning of a cultural change for our company that has made a significant impact on our customers.
“I’m proud of the what we’ve accomplished thus far and the focus we have put on continued learning in this area,” added Michael. “I know it will help us continue to improve and provide an even better experience for our clients moving forward.”
The 2016 Continuous Improvement Conference held April 10-13, was yet another opportunity for Shawmut leadership to continue to sharpen their lean management skills. The program was designed to help companies achieve operational excellence and offered several educational sessions on the concepts of Lean Manufacturing and other management and quality systems. Much the same as previous years, the conference provided leaders from the print industry with actionable tactics and skills to help reduce cost, cut waste, boost customer satisfaction, and harness the creativity of their employees.